How to Get Over Fear From a Low Risk Taker

I have worked with hundreds of people in Southern Nevada over the last few years exploring SBO (small business ownership). I always tell clients that unlike most of them, I never dreamed of owning my own business. SBO seemed way too risky for me, and I wanted to overly protect my hard earned capital.

However, I had what I call my “watershed moment” where my choices were to relocate with my corporate role, take a pay cut to stay in town, or look at SBO. Even though I have a low risk tolerance, taking the plunge into SBO seemed less risky to me than taking a risk on a start-up company where I would be an employee only, or relocating to a town where I didn’t know a soul.

FranNet has a proprietary matching process that includes a Neurolinguistic Programming Assessment, and one of the things it measures is risk tolerance. FranNet shows this under the name ‘Stages of Growth.’ An individual who scores an Entrepreneurial profile indicates a high-risk tolerance. Someone of this caliber wouldn’t mind jumping into an emerging franchise system. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Enterprise indicates an individual with a lower risk tolerance who would most likely prefer a franchise concept with a national footprint and high consumer brand recognition.

You probably guessed that I am an Enterprise buyer, meaning I do NOT want to join a young franchise or cutting edge industry, so what made sense for me? My first franchise was a home care franchise with over 100 franchisees. When I first had someone suggest home care to me I laughed and said, ‘I love my mom, but I don’t know how that qualifies me to own a home care franchise.’ Despite my initial hesitancy, home care was a great fit for me, because it is a recession resistant industry with a growing need amongst a very strong demographic – Baby Boomers. It was also a good fit because I enjoyed a B2C (business to consumer) for the end service, and a B2B (business to business) for referrals. I also was very comfortable managing processes and employees I didn’t see every day.

What is the right fit for you? If you are considering a change of scenery, consider exploring franchising. Approximately 75% of all franchise owners are ‘industry switchers’ meaning they do not have specific experience in that industry. Successfully owning a business in a new industry is pretty darn hard outside of franchising.

Start your entrepreneurial journey by taking FranNet’s online assessment: Get started NOW with our online profile. This is the fun part!